


Banshee

by gadaursan



Series: 0xS74RDUS7 [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mecha, Alternate Universe - Space Opera, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Human Experimentation, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Inspired by Music
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-26 19:04:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20747225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gadaursan/pseuds/gadaursan
Summary: "Please," Shoichi choked. "He's my brother… I need to get through to him…"Yusaku couldn't shake his friend off of him with the way he was clinging to his arms for dear life. He looked to Ai, who could only shrug. They themselves weren't entirely sure about this plan, and they'd need any kind of help they could get to break through to Jin.





	Banshee

**Author's Note:**

> I'm pretty sure we all wanted a proper scene where Kusanagi talks his brother out of getting possessed, so here's some of that angst and drama set in a juicy space opera. Will I tell you what's going on? No, because I don't know what's going on either.
> 
> This oneshot is inspired by Gundam Unicorn. Whipped this one out in the middle of the night. Enjoy.

♫ | 1st MOV.: BANSHEE by Hiroyuki Sawano | [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUXh_AQ5xvI) | [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/k_tistory/01-1st-mov-banshee)

"Revolver, sir, I'm picking a lot of radio chatter from Sol. It looks like they've got a visual on something."

With a flick of the wrist, Revolver enlarged the footage onto the main screen of the bridge. In high definition, a massive hulking figure crept out of the horizon where the sun and sea met. Spectre recognized of the black and gold mobile suit that had revealed itself.

"It's Lightning," he grimaced. "I can feel it."

Revolver easily connected the dots. Tindalos Base was not far from the position of Armatos. As far as his intel went, the Sol army had not been expecting Lightning to come, and definitely not on a suicide mission like this. He wasn't expecting this, either, but perhaps he overlooked that Lightning was desperate enough to try it. That Ignis had many copies of Armatos, and he hadn't even sent Hydradrive.

"Get the Borreload ready," he sent an order down to the launching bay. "I'm heading out."

"What about Sunavalon?" Spectre asked as the man rushed past him. "Its repairs aren't fully finished but-"

"NO," Revolver realized how harsh he sounded and quickly reigned back his anger. He lost his father and his generals to that monster. He couldn't lose any more of his people. "The Sunavalon is benched unless I say so."

At that, Spectre shut his mouth and bowed respectfully to him. Revolver's word was final on this ship, and they couldn't take any risks after the losses they sustained.

The rush to the launching bay was all a blur for Revolver as he prepared as fast as he could to launch. As much as he wanted to say he was moving to intervene a conflict between Sol and the Ignis, he would be lying to himself if he wasn't also fueled by vengeance. The image of his father's arm protruding out of a mess of metal and ashes still burned in his mind. His resolve to destroy that rogue Ignis grew even stronger.

He clenched his teeth as the Borreload was flung out of the launcher and into the sky. He slid his joysticks forward set his trajectory for Armatos then stomped his foot down on the accelerator. Lightning wouldn't know the first thing that hit him.

A warning in the corner of his monitor alerted him that a beam was about to hit him where he was headed, and he quickly turned his suit around. If not for Faust's impressive notification system, he would have been skewered by that canon. Now who would be so bold as to get in his way?

As if to answer his question, Salamangreat floated down to his level until its feet touched the ocean with its toes. The suit flared and coated its tonfas in crimson energy resembling flames. So Takeru Homura was serious about keeping him from reaching Armatos.

Revolver looked back to Tindalos Base in the distance. If Salamangreat was fully repaired again, then that would only mean its companion was also ready to sortie. It seemed that Yusaku had plans of his own to deal with Armatos. Revolver… no, Ryoken, wasn't sure what that man had in mind.

* * *

"Yusaku!"

Ai and Yusaku came to a skidding halt in front of the lift to look behind them. Shoichi was bending over against a pillar, hand clutching at his chest to normalize his breathing again.

"Kusanagi," Yusaku chided him. "You were supposed to be at the bridge."

"Let me come with you!"

Shoichi's words echoed in the silent launching bay. The Sol engineers Akira had so kindly lent them paid no heed to the scene unfolding before the lift to Decode Talker.

"Uh, I don't know if I can take another passenger," Ai twiddled his thumbs. "Lightning's Armatos isn't exactly… the easiest thing to fight. He wasn’t the leader of the Ignis for nothing, you know."

"And Takeru and Flame are preoccupied with keeping Hanoi away," Yusaku reminded Shoichi. "We can't-"

Shoichi shook him by the shoulders, eyes blazing.

"You have to let me on board with you!"

The man realized Yusaku was wincing at the strength of his grip and let go, hands instead moving his forearms as he bowed his head into Yusaku's shoulder.

"Please," Shoichi choked. "He's my brother… I need to get through to him…"

Yusaku couldn't shake his friend off of him with the way he was clinging to his arms for dear life. He looked to Ai, who could only shrug. They themselves weren't entirely sure about this plan, and they'd need any kind of help they could get to break through to Jin.

"I'll try to let you open a communications channel with him if I can," he said uneasily. "What happens after that, will be just that. Nothing more."

"Uh, right!" Ai, of all people, was struggling to stay positive about the situation. "We haven't been this well synchronized since we first met! You can count on us!"

"Thank you," Shoichi let go of Yusaku's shoulders and wrapped him in a tight hug. "Thank you…"

* * *

"Why must you interfere, Soulburner?" Revolver snarled at Takeru through the open channel and took a shot at the other mobile suit. Predictably, Takeru dodged and burst forward to meet his blade. "You're in my way."

"Actually, you're in ours," Takeru retorted. "It's a delicate operation right now, and we can't have you coming in trying to kill another Ignis."

The Borreload stood still for a moment, likely because its pilot was remembering his last altercation with Yusaku. Takeru remembered the bitter words the two slung at each other, and both of them had said things that they couldn't take back. Perhaps it was a good thing he was the one out here trying to distract Revolver. If Yusaku were here, he'd have torn every limb off Revolver in mere seconds.

"Just what do you have planned for Armatos?" Revolver asked cautiously, gun and blade still held out in front of Borreload.

"Well, I can't hide anything from you," Takeru shrugged in his seat. "You see, we're trying to talk to Armatos, maybe change its mind."

"Yusaku and Ai are attempting to break through the reconditioning Lightning had placed his origin under," Flame elaborated. "Thereby preserving the mental and physical state of the pilot."

Just as Flame finished that sentence, a burst of light emerged from the Tindalos Base, interrupting their fight. The purple twinkle told all that he needed to know about who had just deployed. The sight of Decode Talker launching never got old.

"That's so like him," Revolver said after a pause. "But he's foolish to think that making peace with Armatos will do any good."

"Huh?" Takeru had nearly forgotten that Revolver was right next to him. He had forgotten that they were even trying to fight. "What do you mean?

"Armatos will be useless without the Ignis cooperating with its origin," Revolver reminded him. "Lightning will never agree to properly synchronize with his origin. He'll only latch onto a lesser compatible human to serve another copy of Armatos."

"Well, that is a concern," Flame conceded. "But if we can take back his origin, it would certainly put Lightning at a disadvantage, don't you agree?"

A boom put an end to their discussion as the Decode Talker made contact with Armatos. As soon as they were within touching distance, the two had begun exchanging blows.

Takeru couldn't help but wince at every punch Yusaku was taking. The Decode Talker may have been the most mobile of the Ignis models, but its connections were the most sensitive to the pilot. Getting hit hard in the pilot seat would hurt just as badly as getting hit for real. And Yusaku had only just finished recuperating from his last set of injuries. Takeru had tried to volunteer to face Armatos instead, if only to keep Yusaku off the field, but his friend pointed out that he was the only one capable of facing Armatos one on one.

The fight had now advanced that the Decode Talker and Armatos had drawn out their main hands, a beam saber and a lance respectively. They were now engaged in a flurry of kicking, swinging and dodging until the Decode Talker managed to sneak a good kick in the gut. In return, Armatos threw out a cable that coiled around Decode Talker's foot and took the mobile suit with it down to the patch of land in the middle of the ocean.

"Yusaku!" Both Takeru and Flame gasped in alarm. Both of them agreed together that now was the time to step in.

"Wait, don't move," Borreload moved to block Salamangreat from moving, and Takeru frowned at what its pilot was trying to accomplish.

"Wait a second…" Revolver unofficially cancelled their battle by putting his guns away. Takeru could almost hear the gears at work in the other man's head as he seemed to be checking for something.

"Well, what did you find?" Takeru did his best to veil his irritation.

"There's a shift in the Cyberse particles there," Revolver slipped into his persona of a researcher. "It's creating a Cyberse Field. Neither of us can just waltz in there."

* * *

Akira's hands balled into fists as he listened to Hayami read off the wild fluctuations in the pilot's vitals just as he watched the Decode Talker plummet into the small island, kicking up a cloud of dust that caused the base to lose sight of it. Every passing second, he regretted asking Yusaku to step in to protect the Tindalos Base, even save the pilot within Armatos.

The boy was in the worst shape last they spoke, his arms and legs barely healed, and stiches still threatening to burst. He had been so sure that despite the care he had given as an apology to Deocde Talker's pilot for mistaking him for an enemy, Yusaku would refuse to lend his assistance. Yet despite all that Akira had done, Yusaku had went willingly to temporarily ally with Sol, to help him defy Queen's orders to kill Armatos. Although the pilot had been absolutely clear that he and his mechanic had personal reasons to seek a peaceful resolution with Armatos, Akira liked to believe that Yusaku had some sense of compassion as well.

"We're getting a message from home base," Hayami announced, and up came the face of the last person he wanted to speak to at this very moment.

"Q-Queen…" He stammered under his superior's sharp gaze.

"I've sent Playmaker out to engage the enemy," he reported tentatively. "I’m doing as you ordered me to.

"Then why hasn't Playmaker killed it?" Queen frowned. "Normally, he'd have been done with it by now."

"We're trying to contain Armatos," he explained. "Decode Talker is trying to establish communications with Armatos. We believe-"

"That was nothing close to what I had asked of you," Queen cut him off. "The rogue Ignis have set their sights on Allurios. We need all hands on deck as soon as possible."

Akira looked away from the admiral. He knew that time was of the essence, but if Armatos could be recovered along with its pilot, the Sol Federation would have another card against the Ignis. He was willing to risk some time for this risky gambit, even if it could cost his position.

"Patch me through to Playmaker," Queen demanded. "I'll order him to-"

"We're getting a strange reaction from their locations!" Hayami reported. She pushed Queen's window to the side and brought back focus on a heat map of a bird's eye's view of the island.

Akira could clearly see irregularities in the Cyberse particles emanating from the two suits. This was remarkable. He had only thought this true in theory, but here it was happening in plain daylight.

"A field…" He muttered to himself. "The Ignis, they're resonating and generating a Cyberse field!"

It looked like Yusaku had a fighting chance after all.

* * *

"Jin, can you hear me?!" Shoichi shouted into the microphone. "Respond if you can hear my voice!"

Armatos showed no hesitation to attempt a killing blow at Yusaku's cockpit, and Ai had to fly him out of harm's way for that. Despite their efforts in the past few minutes, nothing was quite working.

"Jin, please!" Shoichi cried. "Come home with us!"

Yusaku shifted the controls ever so slightly so he could sidestep Armatos' lance. With his opponent preoccupied with recovery from that miss, he took advantage of their close quarters to sneak a blow into the other suit's side. To his surprise, Lightning was just as fast and knocked his arm out of the way and kicked him down onto the island below.

"Oh, yikes!" Ai quickly maneuvered the suit into a tucked position, and the Decode Talker rolled onto the island, minimizing the potential damage. Yusaku brought up the beam saber in front of himself to guard himself while he observed Armatos carefully again.

He had to be careful to not directly attack Jin, but Lightning. If he and AI could somehow weaken Lightning or find a way to communicate with Jin without his interference, they could break Jin from Lightning. He could feel a stronger link in close proximity to the other suit, but every time he tried to stay long enough to get a reaction between them, Lightning would always make distance between them. That Ignis knew exactly what Yusaku was trying to do, and he was doing everything to stop him.

"To think that you know how to use Cyberse Fields as well," Lightning noted the strange feeling in the air, twirling his lance to taunt them. "I did not think the Dark Ignis could have managed it. He was always the weakest of us."

"Like you always said, dear leader," Ai shot back. "I've always been a fast learner when I put my mind to it."

"Focus, Ai," Yusaku warned his partner.

"Right, right."

"I don’t understand why you let your origin do as he pleases," Lightning drawled as he drew closer. "Why waste resources on perfect synchronization with him when you can simply take full rein of his body like I have?"

"Humans were not made to be our slaves," Ai argued. "We were created to live alongside the humans. Where humanity falters, we are supposed to be right there to help them pick themselves up and build a new, better future together."

"Still talking all that idealistic trash, I see," Lightning sighed in exasperation. Armatos held its lance at the ready and charged forth.

"Why don't we change that?"

Yusaku brought up his saber to meet the point of Armatos's lance, and on Ai's suggestion, directed Decode Talker to push forward and take the other suit off balance. He followed up with a spinning sweep across their opponent's feet, putting Armatos on its back. Decode Talker drove the beam saber into its shoulder. They could hear Jin finally make a sound, although it was not a pleasant one.

Shoichi's voice cracked as he yelled at them. "Don't hurt him!"

"I'm trying," Yusaku hissed, and pushed the blade a bit deeper to make sure that he didn't need to use his second blade to do the job.

Shoichi continued to speak into the microphone desperately, "Jin, let's go back home together!"

"You fool," Lightning taunted them. "You think some measly words will snap him out of my hold?"

Armatos powered its thrusters to lift itself off the ground, taking Decode Talker with it. The beam saber, Yusaku realized, had been placed too shallow, and it fell out and clattered uselessly to the ground and fizzled out. Armatos then grabbed the nearest limb it could reach and pulled, ripping one of the Decode Talker's arms clean out of its socket. The force of the dismemberment rocked the cockpit, forcing both its inhabitants to cling to their seats and brace for the impact of the suit crashing against the side of the ship. The shock traveling to the pilot's arm was instant.

Yusaku bit down hard on his lip to contain his scream, but his pain didn't go unnoticed.

"Yusaku!" Ai called out to him and quickly tried to cut off the connection to the Decode Talker's arm. "Damn, just when we got that arm repaired…"

Yusaku's arm was already feeling numbness take effect, but he couldn't stop here. He had to make good on his promise to Captain Zaizen to minimize casualties, and Shoichi and his life was at stake here. If they could free Miyu through Aoi's words, then they could do the same for Jin.

He let out a cry of frustration and thrust both arms forward. He stomped on Armatos's free hand and drew out a second beam saber and took Armatos by surprise, slicing it by the opposite wrist open. For extra measure, he kicked its lance away from them.

As best he could with one arm and two feet, the Decode Talker wrestled Armatos onto the ground and pinned it against the ground. The two mobile suits' chest plates came close enough to each other that they could see the shrouded face of Shoichi's brother through the small window. Nevertheless, Armatos bucked against the Decode Talker, even kneeing the suit in the torso, and Yusaku was feeling every bit of it. He wasn't sure how much he could take any more of this, and Shoichi seemed to sense that they were running out of time.

"Don't leave me, Jin!"

* * *

Jin was trapped in a void.

He was used to it, this loneliness, this pain.

"You are alone, with me." Lightning instructed him.

Who was that voice? Jin couldn't put a finger on it, but it sounded familiar. The voice set a small star at his feet, bringing warmth in this cold, empty space.

"Jin!"

"None of that!"

Lightning stomped out the light, and the chilling silence returned again. Jin blinked at the ground where the fire had been. What was that?

"That was a distraction," Lightning explained. "The enemy was trying to deceive you, to take you away from me."

To take him away from Lightning? That wouldn't do.

"That's right," Lightning encouraged him. "I am your light."

For all his life, Jin had only known Lightning, the one who had kept him alive when he was strapped to the table and taken apart like a lab rat, the one who had called for him when the pain wouldn't go away, the one who gave him purpose when others could not. Lightning was the closest thing to a brother he had.

"Jin!"

There it was again.

"Let's… home… together!"

That voice.

Jin looked down again and saw that the orb of light had returned, but this time stronger than ever. Lightning's face twisted into a horrible expression as he stomped on it again.

"You cannot remember!" Lightning shouted through him.

"Jin, please!"

The star exploded into a blazing circle around him, knocking Lightning away from him. The entity cried at the burns and shielded his eyes from the overpowering glow.

Everything was coming back to him.

Somewhere, a young, brash Shoichi was rolling in the grass, laughing as he went. The crown of daisies Jin had made for his head had fallen off somewhere along the way, but they didn’t care. They were having the time of their lives.

Somewhere, Jin was trying his hardest to pry through the crowd of people crowding the arena. He finally made it through and bumped right into Shoichi in a suit and carrying his diploma. They smiled at each other and wondered if Jin too would make it to the academy one day.

Somewhere, Shoichi was cradling Jin in his arms in their flat, whispering soft lullabies to ward of the voices that persisted in his head. His hands were soft and comforting, just as they had always been.

Something inside Jin finally snapped.

This was wrong.

Everything had been wrong from the very start.

Lightning was never his brother.

Shoichi was.

Shoichi…

"No…" Lightning tried to coax him back. "You mustn't do this!"

Shoichi… where was he?

"Don’t leave me, Jin!"

Jin was beginning to remember.

* * *

The Decode Talker's gripped loosened because its pilot was feeling old wounds opening up, and Armatos took advantage of this weakness. It threw the Decode Talker off itself and threw it at the nearby cliffside. The impact of the suit hitting the stone knocked the wind out of Yusaku's lungs, only allowing him a strangled gasp. His head was starting to feel lightheaded already.

"Yusaku!" Ai screamed as the Decode Talker slid down and slumped against the cliff, mimicking its pilot. His distress snapped Shoichi out of his intense focus on Armatos. The man hovered over Yusaku in a panic, patting down his sides until he drew back to find blood on his hands. Yusaku stared dumbly at the red staining Shoichi's fingers. Akira was right, he was barely in any state to be piloting right now.

"Shit…" Shoichi looked from him to Armatos towering over them. "Shit…"

Just as their opponent was poised to take another step, the lights began to fade from its frame. Armatos stopped mid-step then fell forward onto its knees only meters away from them. Its arms fell limply to its sides, and in seconds, the suit was entirely unresponsive.

On the screen, Yusaku could see the cockpit cracking open, and out fell a body, Jin's body. He felt Shoichi tighten his vice grip on shoulder.

"Hurry! Catch him!"

Yusaku didn't need to be told twice. He propelled forward at full speed, and Ai helpfully supplied another pair of thrusters to close the distance between them and the other mobile suit. The Decode Talker held out its remaining hand out underneath the fallen Armatos, catching Jin in its palm. Ai picked up where Yusaku left off and tilted the suit to the side so they landed on their side.

As the dust settled, Yusaku took deep breaths to regain his bearings. He pressed whatever buttons he could to patch a channel to the captain, Takeru, anyone to find them. He definitely needed the medical attention, and so did Jin.

Ai tried to enable life support functions for Yusaku within the suit while Kusanagi unbuckled himself from his seat and went straight for the exit.

"Shoichi, wai-"

Shoichi didn't appear to care if it was safe to run out to fetch Jin. All that mattered to him was that Jin was in one piece and still breathing.

He slammed the switch to the exit open and scrambled out as soon as the hatch parted wide enough for him. In his haste, Shoichi didn't notice that he still had one foot still in the cockpit, and he tripped onto the sand. His feet wobbled from having sat in the cockpit for so long, but even if he couldn't walk, he crawled to where Jin lay.

Once he finally reached Jin, Shoichi picked his brother up into his arms, and held him close. If Yusaku didn't know any better, he'd think Shoichi was trying to squeeze Jin to death.

"Jin…" Shoichi shed his tears freely as he buried his face in the purple mop of hair. "Oh, Jin…"

Yusaku exchanged looks with Ai, who had taken his perch on the armrest as humanoid form again. He couldn't help but smile at the entity, his partner. Once again, they achieved the impossible.

**Author's Note:**

> I need more people to gush about good anime OSTs with me. Also, I swear I love Yusaku a lot with all my heart, but that doesn't mean I won't put him through the wringer.


End file.
